There are many creative ways to save pennies on your energy bill, from placing bricks in the toilet cistern, to cling film over the windows. In manufacturing, saving energy can be a whole lot simpler and making small but significant changes can drastically reduce energy consumption. Three technologies can improve the energy efficiency of industrial robots, as Jonathan Wilkins, Marketing Director at EU Automation, explains.

Over recent years Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) have advanced from simple materials handlers to intelligent autonomous robots. How has this happened? Jonathan Wilkins, Marketing Director of obsolete industrial parts supplier, EU Automation, explains.

The Great Wall of China is regarded as the longest running construction project of all time. The wall took more than 2000 years and millions of workers to complete. At the time, labourers used only simple machinery to build the wall — a vast difference from the equipment used in construction today. Here, Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director of obsolete industrial parts supplier EU Automation, discusses the use of automation in 21st century ...

Drones have taken off in a number of industries, both consumer and industrial. Professional services network, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) predicts that there will be an explosion in drone technology, increasing from a market size of $2 billion in 2016 to $127 billion by 2020. But what is the potential for drones in manufacturing? Here, Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director at EU Automation discusses his views on the future of drones in production...

Automation is having a significant impact on the way we work. Here, Jonathan Wilkins, Marketing Director of obsolete industrial parts supplier, EU Automation, offers some predictions on the impact of robotics on the job market. A recent report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), predicted that by 2030 up to a third of UK jobs could be affected by automation and robotics. However, are robots really taking our jobs?

Leonardo Da Vinci made one of the first attempts at humanoid robot design in 1495, when he developed the mechanical knight. The robot was designed to make several human-like motions, but it wasn't until the 1990s, when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) invented Kismet, the world’s first sociable robot, that the manufacturing industry took inspiration from humanoid robots to optimise productivity.

Dystopian literature often refers to robots one day taking over the world. Ray Kurzweil predicted over a decade ago, in The Singularity is Near, that robots would reach this stage of intelligence by the year 2030. The increased processing power in the PLCs and industrial PCs used to provide logic in robots, has led to them being used in a number of industry sectors.

In 2016, IBM reported that manufacturing was the second most cyber attacked industry. With new strains of ransomware and other vulnerabilities created every week, what should manufacturers look out for in new year? Here Jonathan Wilkins, Marketing Director of obsolete industrial parts supplier, EU Automation discusses three cyber security pitfalls that industry should prepare for.

Doctor Crawford W. Long conducted the first surgical operation under anaesthetic in 1841 in Jefferson, Georgia. Here Jonathan Wilkins, Marketing Director of obsolete parts supplier, EU Automation, discusses three technologies that are revolutionising healthcare in the 21st century.

The 1950s gave us Stevie Wonder, it was a great decade for fashion, and the first television remote control was marketed. Additionally computer scientist Alan Turing developed a way of testing a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour, equivalent to humans. Since the Turing Test was first used, the world has become fixated on the possibility that, one day, a computer could function like a human being.

In today’s industry, features such as wireless connectivity and parking assist are considered standard, normal and are expected. However, let’s go back 50 years and it was a totally different story. There was much less technology of any kind in most vehicles. The three-point seatbelt didn't become standard until 1970 and airbags weren't mandatory until 1998.

While autonomous vehicles are making most of the headlines in the world of automotive engineering, behind the scenes, the industry is proving that collaboration rather than autonomy is the road to success. Here, Jonathan Wilkins, Marketing Director, EU Automation looks at some of the most exciting automotive engineering clusters around the world.

Virtual reality (VR) may be viewed by most people as a very recent invention. However, the first VR headset was created as far back as 1968 by computer scientist, Ivan Sutherland. It was called the sword of Damocles, as its formidable size and weight meant it had to be anchored to the ceiling so it didn’t crush the user – a far cry from the modern Oculus Rift and Microsoft HoloLens.

Navigating a city without public transport is almost impossible. Under the strain of increasing urban populations and growing pressure to reduce pollution in metropolitan areas, public transport is constantly adapting. But is it changing fast enough? Jonathan Wilkins, Marketing Director, EU Automation discussed the potential benefits of automation for public transport.

In The Matrix, a lack of robot ethics leads to the destruction of the human race, with robots enslaving humans in a simulated reality. Despite it being a prolific cinematic theme, robot ethics has not been discussed much in industry until now. However, the most recent technological advancements in the field have led to the introduction of a new UK standard for robot designers.

Military and commercial aerospace manufacturers face the problem of electronic component obsolescence. In the past, military equipment used to be in production for several decades, so obsolescence management was rarely an issue when aircraft designs were agreed. However, it is now estimated that 60% of the integrated circuits currently on aerospace products will become obsolete in the next five years.

Back in the 1960s, animated sitcom The Jetsons depicted the car of the future as a levitating capsule that flew through the air to drop main character, George Jetson, at the office before folding up into his briefcase. While flying cars are still out of reach, the adoption of cloud computing in automotive manufacturing is helping create a new car of the future. 

The 80s: an era of double denim, floppy disks and such classics as Don't You Want Me, by The Human League. Back then, the concept of storing the vinyl collection of your standard new romantic and enough movies to rival the local video shop on a ‘cloud’ was unimaginable and let’s be honest, ridiculous. Today, data storage for consumer and industrial technology is advancing rapidly, but what does this mean for older industrial dev...

It’s fair to say that the smartphone is to blame for many everyday technologies including the calculator, the torch and the camera slowly entering the realms of obsolescence. However, not even this disruptive technology can go on ruling our lives forever. A study by Ericsson found that one in two people believe the smartphone will be obsolete in five years time. 

Set to release its first book aimed at helping manufacturers increase their understanding of obsolescence management, is industrial equipment supplier EU Automation. The book features interviews with industry experts and EU Automation’s seven steps to better obsolescence management. The print and electronic versions of the book will be available on Amazon from 6th October.